A `Ukulele is:

Light Weight, Affordable and Portable

Easy on the Fingers ( Four Strings, Four Fingers )

Less Need for Strumming Accuracy

and a low level expectation - so we can get away with a lot.

The music you play can be as simple or complex as you want. The ukulele is a powerful musical instrument for communication in its own right. And, did I mention it's a blast and lot of fun to play and explore.

It's the new social instrument for this millennium and here to stay this go around - the craze is over.

Getting Started with Ukulele?

It is generally true that you get what you pay for when it comes to buying an instrument and a ukulele is no different. Get a few, they come in four sizes and all different shapes, wood, finishes, acoustic, electric, solid body, archtop. There is even a banjo and bass ukulele. Plus they are fun, any size

The above image is a selection of the characters available in a FREE font from www.ffonts.net show the wide variety of ukulele shapes - all of them real.

You can take your ukulele playing to any level. From a few simple basic chords to complicated solo ukulele arrangements like I have available right here on LearningUkulele.com.

Selecting a `Ukulele

A Ukulele is: Light Weight, Affordable and Portable | Four Strings and Four Fingers | Less Need for Strumming Accuracy | There isn' a lot expected from a ukulele player.

The 'Ukulele (pronounced oo-koo-lele) comes in four standard sizes: Soprano (sometimes called Standard), Concert, Tenor and Baritone. The Baritone is tuned just like the four thin strings of a standard tuned guitar and called "G" tuning (D G B E). The Soprano, Concert and Tenor is typically tuning in a "C" Tuning (G C E A) or "D" tuning (A D F# B). The Tenor can also be tuned like the Baritone ukulele with a high or low string four.

Ukulele Study Plans

One of the hardest things about learning a musical instrument is the overwhelming amount of material available. And with the Internet and YouTube this is more more true than ever. Even an instrument deemed to be as simple to learn as the ukulele. However, with the right plan of attack and taking inventory of what you might already know – It can be done.

I've been asked many times to put together a plan of attack for getting started and getting beyond the basics. There is no better recipe for success that a proven plan and organization for development. These lesson pages are intended to provide material for developing your ukulele skills and expanding your music knowledge.

Music..., regardless of your instrument, involves parts or all of these elements: Melody, Harmony and Rhythm. Then putting it all together in Songs, Compositions, Arrangements, Orchestration, etc...

Reading Ukulele TAB - Alternate Notation

TAB or Tablature Tablature is an alternate form of musical notation, which tells players where to place their fingers on a particular instrument rather than which pitches to play.

TAB is sort of a secret language between guitar players and ukulele players. Although a shortcut to getting started it actually serves to alienate one from the rest of the music world.

With fewer alternate note locations than the guitar, reading music on ukulele is a lot easier than you might believe.

Basic `Ukulele Chord Fingering

The art and science of chord fingering. Learning your basic open position chords in common keys.

We have four fingers and there're all not equal. Some shorter then others and some stronger that others. Everybody's hand is a little different. This does play a role in fingering chords. A example shows up with the first chord we will cover, a C major chord. It is a one finger chord. That one finger can be anyone of your four fingers.

Natural, Sharp and Flat Notes of the `Ukulele Fingerboard - C Tuning

Standard music notation, the natural, sharp and flat notes of the ukulele fingerboard for C tuned ukuleles. Covers both high C and low G tuning variations.

Which Way Is Up? - Up, Down, Ascending, Descending, etc...

Up, Down, Ascending, Descending, Higher, Lower, Top, Bottom!!!

What is up, down, higher, lower, top, bottom, ascending, descending?

Up, down, higher, lower, top, bottom, ascending, descending refers to musical pitch and not to direction as we know it. Up and higher refers to the raising of musical pitch. Down and lower refer to the lowering of musical pitch. Top refers to the upper note of a chord voicing or musical phrase and bottom refers to the lowest note.

Learning the `Ukulele Fingerboard (Finally!!!)

Most players struggle with learning the names of the notes of the ukulele fingerboard. There doesn't seem to a pattern and notes repeat. There is an easy way and it's easier that you think!

Most players know the names of the open strings for their favorite tuning.

In C Tuning the open strings, from ceiling to floor - your nose to toes are named G C E A, no sharps or flats.

Fingerstyle Basics for `Ukulele - t i m r, ( p i m a )

This lesson covers the common terms used for identifying the fingers used. And, presents a series of single string exercises for exploring and developing the techniques needed for this style.

The Harmonized Major and Minor Scale Charts

The Major Scale or Ionian scale is a diatonic scale, made up of seven distinct notes, plus an eighth which duplicates the first one octave higher. In solfege these notes correspond to the syllables “Do, Re, Mi, Fa, Sol, La, Ti/Si, (Do)”, the “Do” in the parenthesis at the end being the octave of the root.

The Trouble with TAB

TAB, short for tablature is a form of musical notation using numbers and letters on a staff that that corresponds to the number of strings of fretted string instrument. Theses number tell a player which fret to place their fingers on the fingerboard.

TAB has a history with lute music from centuries ago and has found wide use in the music publishing industry catering to the guitarist who can?t or doesn?t want to learn to read. TAB doesn?t exist in mainstream music, primarily by some music magazines and on the internet.

Learning to read TAB can be accomplished in minutes. Learning to read standard music notation takes a little longer.

Good Trade!

Woman is at a uke festival with a lovely soprano ukulele under her arm. Another woman walks up and gazes admiringly at the first woman's uke, at which point the woman holding the uke looks over and says with a smile; "I got it for my husband." Second woman nods and says, "good trade."

The Ukulele History

In 1879, a Braguinha arrived in Hawaii on a Portuguese ship loaded with laborers destined for the sugar cane fields with a Portuguese instrument called a Machete . Hawaiians made the instrument their own and calling it "ukulele" which translates to "jumping flea," It's believed to have originated because of the way a performer's fingers jump around on the strings.

Three immigrants in particular, Madeiran cabinet makers Manuel Nunes, José do Espírito Santo, and Augusto Dias, are generally credited as the first ukulele makers

1915

The Panama–Pacific International Exposition (PPIE) was a world's fair held in San Francisco, in the United States, between February 20 and December 4 in 1915. Its ostensible purpose was to celebrate the completion of the Panama Canal, but it was widely seen in the city as an opportunity to showcase its recovery from the 1906 earthquake.

1920s

Ukuleles all the rage. This corresponds to the popularity and availability of radio in the decade of the 20s to 40s.

1940s

Ukulele craze revived by GIs returning home from South Pacific after World War II.

Ukulele virtuoso and master educator James Hill has a great take on how the three ukulele crazes have spread — They ALL corresponded to the adoption of new vehicle for the delivery of mass media. He has a great point that Radio, TV and the Internet all created a sense of community around the ukulele.

Simulating Various Ukulele Scale Lengths

If you don't have any concert size instruments nearby to try in a store you can create the scale length on your tenor with an inexpensive capo. A capo on the second or third frets of a tenor leaves you with a scale length (and fret spacing) similar to a concert and the neck width at that level should be very close to that found on most concerts. And if you want to get an idea of what a soprano scale would feel like put the capo at the 4th fret and you'll be almost exactly at the standard 13 5/8 inch length. However the width at that point on a tenor will in most cases be greater than at the nut of a soprano.

Just browsing over both books, they look fantastic! I'm a guitarist and uke player for over 25 years and was thinking about writing a ukulele book but you've already written what I think are the best, most comprehensive and thorough books I've ever seen for the instrument. I just might end up buying every book you've written and I'll be giving my highest recommendation for your books to my friends and students. Thank you so much for taking the time to write such great books! — Peter Rhee

Aloha, Curt, All I can say is WOW! What you have accomplished is simply incredible! All the best — Glen Hirabayashi, The Aloha Boys

Folks, if you haven't stopped by Curt's site, do so right now! ..And get his books, they are fantastic. This guy knows his stuff and is able to pass it along too. — Alan Johnson Proprietor, The 4th Peg

I can highly recommend Curt's Uke books — I have four of them and they are excellent. — fatveg — Portland

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LearningUkulele.com has one of the largest collections of lessons, songs, and TABS, luthiers, ukulele builders, ukulele festival and club information, and, ukulele links on the web. I’ve been on the ®Internet since the early 1990's and This site just never stops growing!!!

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